MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/. The advanced Paket-NK torpedo defense system developed by the Research and Production Enterprise ‘Region’ (part of Tactical Missiles Corporation) will be mounted on Project 11442 cruisers during their upgrade, Enterprise CEO Igor Krylov told TASS on Monday.

"This system has completed the cycle of its trials. All the ships - both Project 22350 new frigates and Project 20380 corvettes under construction and Project 11442 cruisers undergoing upgrade - will be furnished with the Paket-NK system. Also, future ships that are at the stage of their designing will feature this system," the chief executive added.

"Naturally, each Ship Project has its own version of the Paket system, which may differ by its structure. However, its combat parts, in particular, the MPT torpedo and the AT anti-torpedo are identical for any carrier. At present, all the above-mentioned ships of the Navy that are operational in the Baltic, Pacific and Northern Fleet are armed with the required ammunition load of these weapons," the chief executive noted.

The Russian Navy currently operates two Project 11442 missile cruisers, the Pyotr Veliky and the Admiral Nakhimov. The upgrade of the Admiral Nakhimov began in 2014. As a source in the defense industry earlier told TASS, the upgrade of the Pyotr Veliky is scheduled to begin next year. As a result of their upgrade, the Project 11442 cruisers will get new Oniks and Kalibr missiles and Tsirkon hypersonic weapons (instead of Granit missiles currently in service). Advanced surface-to-air missile systems, communications, navigation, life support and other systems are due to be mounted on these warships.

The Project 11442 heavy missile cruisers are among the Russian Navy’s largest warships: they are 250 meters long and displace over 26,000 tonnes. The warships have 20 launchers of Granit anti-ship supersonic missiles as their basic armament. The warships have an unlimited operating range due to their nuclear propulsion unit. Russia and the United States are the sole countries that operate warships of this class.